Alright, well we’re there in Psalm 85. And today we are starting a brand-new series. We finished up all the series that we were in and that we were doing during the lockdowns. And since we are starting a new phase and integrating everybody back in to church, I thought it would be good to begin a new series. We’re going to spend the next several weeks studying the concept of revival in the Bible. And you’ve probably heard a lot about revival if you’ve been around church. But a lot of what you have probably heard has been incorrect in regards to revival. And what we’re going to do is study the great passages of revival in the Bible. And there’s not a lot of them but we’re going to go through and look at the great passages regarding revival. And we’re also going to study the great revivals in the Bible. In the Bible there were some great revivals that took place. We won’t look at all of them today.
But today what we’re going to do in this sermon is that this sermon will serve as an introductory sermon into the concept of revival because so many people have the wrong idea about revival and what revival is and what revival means. So, I want to kind of lay the ground work for what we’re going to be studying over the next several weeks. We’ll be answering the questions that are these: What is revival? Is revival needed? And would you even want revival? Why would you even want to experience revival? So, before us we have Psalm 85. And Psalm 85 is one of those great passages on revival.
I want to point out several concepts to you from this Psalm. I want to give you 3 thoughts in regard to revival from Psalm 85 that will kind of lay the ground work for this idea of revival. Psalm 85:1 “Lord, thou hast been favourable unto thy land: thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob. 2 Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin. Selah. 3 Thou hast taken away all thy wrath: thou hast turned thyself from the fierceness of thine anger. 4 Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause thine anger toward us to cease.” And I want you to notice that in verses 5 and specifically verse 6, we have the great revival verse and passage here in Psalm 85. And it’s put forth as a question. It’s put forth as a request.
Notice what the Psalmist says in verse 5. “5 Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations?”. And of course, you’ve got the famous verses. “6 Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?”. And of course, that may sound familiar to you as a famous hymn that we will actually sing at the end of the service. Wilt thou not revive us again. We sing the song Revive Us Again. I want you to notice this morning as we dissect this Psalm.
The first thing we see is the request for revival. We see that the psalmist is asking these questions. Notice there in verse #5 “5 Wilt thou be angry with us for ever?”. That’s a question. “wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations?”. That’s a question. “6 Wilt thou not revive us again:” Is a question “that thy people may rejoice in thee?”. And I want you to notice that revival begins as a request. Revival is something that is a petition that is being asked. It is a request that is being made. Go with me to Habakkuk Chapter 3.
And in Habakkuk Chapter 3 we find another one of these great revival passages. And there are not that many of them in the Bible where you read and see the word revival. And I want you to notice something similar to Psalm 85. Habakkuk 3:1 “A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth.” I want you to notice that this chapter begins as a prayer from this prophet to the Lord. It says “A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth. 2 O LORD, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD,” Notice the request: “revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.”.
And I want you to notice here like the Psalmist in Psalm 85, the prophet in Habakkuk 3 is making a request. The Psalmist said wily thou not revive us again? Habakkuk says, revive thy work in the midst of the year. And what I want to do today is teach about revival. But also remove some wrong concepts about revival. Because some people have a wrong concept or idea about revival. And they have it because of some faulty teaching in regards to revival.
And one of the teachings that is faulty in regards to revival is this, that revival is something that God imposes upon people. Revival is something that you know, we’re just sitting here having church and all of the sudden the Holy Spirit shows up. I mean the Holy Ghost comes down and you didn’t want to, you didn’t have to, you didn’t like to but you just got started getting filled with the Spirit and you got excited and crazy. Look, that is not a biblical concept. The Bible teaches that the Spirit of the Prophets is subject unto the prophets. And God does not impose himself or impose revival on people. I want you to notice that revival always begins as a request. It begins like a petition from Habakkuk. It begins like the Psalmist in Psalm 85 who says wilt thou not revive us again? Where they prayed to the Lord and they say revive thy work. And I want to answer this question, when is revival needed? When is revival needed?
Psalm 85:4 “4 Turn us, O God of our salvation, and” I want you to notice these words. “cause thine anger toward us to cease.”. “5 Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations?”. Here the Psalmist is referring to the fact that they are experiencing the wrath, the judgment of God. They are experiencing the anger of God. And he’s asking, he’s asking for revival. He’s about to ask for revival. But he says because thine anger toward us to cease. “5 Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations? 6 Wilt thou not revive us again:”.
And I want you to notice and understand this that revival is needed. Because I want you to understand revival. This sermon will set up the next several weeks as we study revival. And I want you to understand that revival. Is needed whenever you are or your family is or your church family is or your nation is experiencing the judgment of God. Here we have the Psalmist saying we need your anger to cease. Cease thing anger toward us. We need you not to be angry with us forever. We don’t want you to draw out this punishment and this anger to all generations. They are experiencing the judgment of God and as a result they are asking, they are requesting, wilt thou not revive us again.
I want you to notice the similarity to Habakkuk 3. “2 O LORD, I have heard thy speech,” Notice these words. “and was afraid:”. Why is Habakkuk afraid? Because they are experiencing the judgment of God. He says “2 O LORD, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work” Notice these words “in the midst of the years,” In the midst of what years? In the midst of the years of judgment. In the midst of the years of wrath. In the midst of the years of God’s punishment and anger upon these people. He says revive they work. “in the midst of the years make known; Notice these words “in wrath remember mercy.”. Why does he say in wrath? Because they are experiencing the judgment of God. Habakkuk is looking down and saying that God had judged our nation. He has judged out people and our country. And he says in wrath Lord, I want you to remember mercy. And he requests, revive thy work.
The Psalmist says, the anger toward us, will you cease it. Wilt thou be angry forever. And then he asks this question, wilt thou not revive us again? And the point is this, revival is needed when we are experiencing the judgment of God. And ask yourself this question, because you might say “Pastor, why now? We’re getting back in to church. Why study revival? Why put this on you heart and mind? Why would we want to learn and study about revival from the word of God now?”.
And the answer is this, I don’t know how else to explain, I don’t know how else to describe, I don’t know how else to put in to words the last couple of months that you and I have experience in this country and nation as Californians. I don’t know how else to word what we have gone through the last few months if not to call it the judgment of God upon this nation. Upon this country, upon this people of the United States. And I’m here to tell you that revival is needed when experiencing the judgment of God. And it may be a national thing, it may be a church thing, it may be a personal thing. You might individually go through the judgment and punishment and chastisement of God. And at those times I’m here to tell you that you are in need of revival.
Let me give you a 2nd reason why you might need revival. You might seat there and say well I agree with that. During the judgment of God, we need revival. During a time of wrath, we need revival. But you might sit there and say that you haven’t experienced the wrath of God. Even during this Coronavirus time, I have been right with the Lord and faithful to prayer and Bible reading and soulwinning. I’ve been staying with my walk with God and I haven’t experienced that time of backsliding or that time of getting cold or that time of not being right with the Lord.
But I want you to understand something, revival is needed for the times of judgment. And revival is also needed when you are experiencing the blessings of God. Notice Psalm 85:1. Because the Psalmist is talking to a group of people that have done both. They have experienced the blessings of the Lord and also the judgment of the Lord. And isn’t that how the Christian life is. Sometimes God is blessing you and sometimes God is chastising you. And notice verse 1. Psalm 85:1. “Lord, thou hast” Notice that word hast. Hast is the past tense. “been favourable unto thy land: thou hast” Notice the word hast, past tense. “brought back the captivity of Jacob. 2 Thou hast” past tense “forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast” past tense “covered all their sin. Selah.
3 Thou hast” past tense. “taken away all thy wrath: thou hast” past tense. “turned thyself from the fierceness of thine anger.”. See, the Psalmist here is looking at this people who could say, we have been a blessed people. We have received the blessings of God. Thou hast been favorable. Thou hast forgiven. Thou hast taken away the fierceness of thine anger. He says that we have been a people that have been highly blessed of the Lord. And I would say this to Verity Baptist Church, Verity Baptist Church is a church that has received the high blessings of the Lord. We are and should be able to say like the Psalmist says that thou hast been favorable to us. Thou hast forgiven. Thou hast taken away thy wrath.
So please understand this, just because we’ve had the blessing of God and the power of God and the favor of God upon our life does not exclude us from needing revival. Because revival is something that happens whenever something needs to be revived. Given new life. Given a fresh anointing. Given the ability to be able to go. And look, you and I should never look at our past as a blessed one and think, well that is good enough. We ought never be people that live in the past. Good or bad. We often tell people like the Apostle Paul said that I count not myself to have apprehended. And Paul was a man who was highly blessed and used of the Lord. Had preached many sermons. Had written books of the Bible. Had started churches. Had been very successful. And he said brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended. He said I have not arrived.
And I’m here to tell you this morning that if you are sitting here and pretty proud about where your Christianity is and you are the type of Christian who says just look at me. I’m pretty good. Sure, that guy needs the judgment of God. OR those people a row behind me need revival. Look, if you’re sitting here thinking that I’m pretty good, I’m pretty great, I’m pretty awesome, I’m pretty faithful, I’m here to tell you that you are a candidate for revival. You need revival if you say that you’ve been judged by God, you’ve received the wrath of God, your Christianity is dead, it’s stale, it’s gotten low. But if you sit here and think, well I’m pretty good. Then you need revival. Thou hast been favorable. Thou hast forgiven iniquity. Thou hast taken away the fierceness of thine anger is all good. But we ought not count ourselves to have apprehended. We should be like the Apostle Paul and say this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind.
Look, if your past is a life of sin, you ought to forget those things which are behind. But if your past is a past of blessings, do not live there, you and I need to forget those things. And reach forth unto those things which are before. I press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. So, we begin tonight by talking about the request for revival. Revival is not something that God will impose. Revival is something that must be asked for. Something that must be petitioned for. And honestly the goal of this sermon today as we set up this idea of revival for the next 6 or 7 weeks is this, to get you, as many of you motivated. And as I preached this in the morning service and in the afternoon service and in the later service, my goal is to get as many of you to get on board with this idea that like the Psalmist, that like the Prophet, we would look up to God and say, wilt thou not revive us again. Wilt thou not revive thy work. So, we see the request for revival.
I’d like you to notice secondly, not only is there a request for revival but there is a requirement for revival. And this is honestly why revival doesn’t happen a lot. You know what is revival? And again, people have different ideas and definitions for it, but revival is a breathing of new life in to something that is old and into something that is stale. Not to long ago we got done studying the 7 chapters of Revelation. And I don’t want to spend a lot of time on here but I want you to notice that sometimes churches need to be revived. Revelation 3. It should be fairly easy to find. The last book of the New Testament. Revelation 3:2 “2 Be watchful,” Now this is Jesus speaking to the church in Sardis. He says “Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain,” Notice “that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.”.
Here you have a church, here you have a church that is getting ready to die. He says be watchful and strengthen. He says strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die. He’s looking at a congregation and saying, this congregation has a name that thou livest and art dead. He says you used to; you had the past tense favor of God. You had the past tense forgiveness of God. You had the past tense fierceness of God removed from you. But now, you’re getting ready to die. Look at Revelation 3. Look at verse 15. Here we have the church of Laodicea. He’s now speaking to the individuals in the church. Notice what he says to these people. Revelation 3:15 “15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.”.
He says I wish you would pick a side. You haven’t picked a side. “16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.”. So, I want you to notice that these are examples of people that God would look at and say you know what you need you lukewarm Christians, you need some reviving. You need a revival. You would look at a church and say that thou hast a name that thou livest and art dead. Be watchful and strengthen the things that remain that are ready to die. You say what do they need? Well if it’s getting ready to die then you know what it needs. It needs a revival.
So, we saw the request of the revival. I want you to notice the requirement for the revival. What exactly is revival? Psalm 85:4. I want you to notice these 2 words. “4 Turn us,” “Turn us”. Here the Psalmist says “Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause thine anger toward us to cease.”. Go to the book of Lamentations if you would. Lamentations Chapter 5. Lamentations is a small book in between these 2 books – Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Here is what is very interesting about the book of Lamentations. Because Lamentations is a book that is a bit different than the books it is clustered with. You have Jeremiah which is a big book, a major prophet. And you have Isaiah which is a big book, a major prophet. You have the Ezekiel which is a big book, a major prophet.
But in the midst, kind of sandwiched in between those, you have this little tiny book called Lamentations written by the prophet Jeremiah. And it doesn’t really seem to fit the rest of the books that are put into the beginning and the end of it. And here’s what I want you to understand, the reason that it is there, there is actually a chronology that is being follow there. Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel all have to do with the judgment of God, the wrath of God and God pouring out his wrath and his judgment and his punishment upon his people. Isaiah is preaching or prophesying before the judgment of God. He is looking ahead to the coming judgment and letting the people know, hey the Assyrians are coming to destroy the Northern Kingdom of Israel.
Halfway through the book of Isaiah, there is a shift because that happens. Then Isaiah begins to prophesy about the Babylonians coming to bring destruction upon the Southern Kingdom of Israel. Isaiah is looking to the coming judgment. Jeremiah is living through the judgment. Jeremiah is actually there when Nebuchadnezzar takes over the land, conquers the land, takes the people as prisoners. Jeremiah is living through the judgment. And then Ezekiel is after the judgment. He is actually in captivity looking back at the judgment of God and living with the consequences of that judgment.
In between that you have this little book of Lamentations. And Lamentations, I’ve heard it explained this way and I think it is a proper way to explain it. It’s really the Prophet Jeremiah holding the funeral service for the Southern Kingdom of Judah. It’s Jeremiah looking at a nation that is dying and is dead and has been judged, and he’s looking at this nation and he’s holding a funeral service. He is lamenting what brought this nation to this place. And in Lamentations 5:21, he gives us a little hope of a possible revival. And reviving of a nation of people that has died. Notice Lamentations 5:21 “21 Turn thou us unto thee, O LORD,” He says “Turn thou us unto thee, O Lord, and we shall be turned;”
Then he uses this word “renew” What does that mean? Same idea. Renew. Revive. Give new life. Breathe new life. Breathe new energy in to these people. He says “Turn thou us unto thee, O Lord, and we shall be turned; Renew our days as of old.”. Go back to Psalm 85. What is revival? Simply put is this, revival is turning to God. Revival is turning to God. And I will say this, the word turn is used synonymously with this word repent. It is a repenting back to God. Now let me make something clear. Alright. This is not a reference to salvation. When we talk about salvation, salvation is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. When we talk about turning away from sin, that is never a reference to salvation.
And here’s the point, unsaved people cannot be revived. Revival does not apply to unsaved people. Unsaved people cannot be revived. In order to be revived the idea would be that you had life at one point. That life has grown stale. That life has grown dead. And it must be revived. Unsaved people don’t need to be revived. They don’t need revival. They need Bible. They need to be born again. They need to be quickened by the Spirit of God. They need to be created into a new life. They need to be created as a new man. A new creature in Christ Jesus.
So, revival is not something that can apply or could apply to an unbeliever getting saved. This is not the Psalmist looking at people giving them a gospel of salvation presentation. He’s looking at the people of God who have grown dead and stale and cold and he’s saying revive us again O Lord. Wilt thou not revive us. And he says well how do you do that? How is that accomplished? He says turn us. How does revival happen? What is the requirement for revival? It is a turning to God. But it is not only a turning to God. It is a turning away from. There are always 2 sides to the coin. It’s a turning to God but it’s a turning away from.
Notice Psalm 85:5 “5 Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations? 6 Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee? 7 Shew us thy mercy, O LORD, and grant us thy salvation.”. Notice verse 8 “8 I will hear what God the LORD will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints:” Don’t miss the last part of verse 8. “but let them not turn again to folly.”. See that was the problem. The problem is that they had turned themselves to folly. What is that? It’s sin. It’s sin and the world and the flesh. Proverbs 24:9 “The thought of foolishness is sin”. The Bible says.
And here the Psalmist is praying, he’s praying revive us again O Lord. He says turn us to God and then he says let them not turn again to folly. See when he asks the question what is revival? People give you all sorts of answers and a lot of them are wrong. Some people think revival is this mystical, supernatural work that God imposes on people. And again, because there is so much bad teaching about revival, sometimes you find a lot of fundamentalist Christians looking at their nose down at the concept of revival.
And I would mind you that revival is very much a concept found in scripture. Just because people take it and people preach it improperly doesn’t make it any more biblical. In fact, we’re going to take the next 7 weeks looking at passages in the Bible about revival. And we’re going to be looking at some great revivals in the Bible. So just because people teach some things that are wrong about it doesn’t make it wrong.
But there are a lot of bad teachings about revival. And today, if you hear about Baptists teach about revival, you’ll hear some crazy things. You’ll hear about some preacher 100 years ago walking down some major street in New York City and people would be falling down upon him or about preachers getting the glory of God and crazy things like that. That’s why we began with the idea that God does not impose himself. Revival begins as a request. Revival begins as a petition that we ask.
You say, if it’s not mystical and it’s not supernatural and it’s not just God’s power comes upon us and all these great things come upon us, then what is it. Well other people have the idea that revival is an event. Revival is something that you schedule on a calendar. I mean who has ever heard about a revival meeting. This fall we’re having a revival meeting. Here’s the problem with that, you don’t schedule revival. You don’t put a meeting on the schedule or the calendar saying that we’re having a revival. Revival is not something you schedule. Revival is not something imposed on you. What is revival? Revival is simply breathing new life in to something that is dead. Breathing new life in to something that is stale. What is revival? It’s a reviving of your spiritual life. It’s getting right with God. It’s turning to God and turning away from folly.
Notice verse 13. Psalm 85:13 “13 Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of his steps.”. See, revival is simply this getting right with God. 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”. The point is this. And here’s what I want to ask you but you don’t have to answer out loud. Please don’t answer out loud. But the point is for you and me to get to the point like the Psalmist said, Search me o God and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me. And lead me in the way everlasting.
You say, why doesn’t revival happen? I hear a lot about revival and the consensus is that most people are not experiencing revival. Most Christians are not experiencing revival. I would say the vast majority of Christians after their salvation experience revival. There are some that experience revival one time in their life and it is extremely rare to find a person who lives their life in a state of revival. It almost never happens. You say why? Because it requires you actually getting right with God. It requires you actually looking at the things in your life that are distracting you. That are hindering you. That are causing you to become not completely sold out to God. And it requires you to say that I will turn from folly and turn to God.
It has been said that it has not yet been seen what will happen if a man, and I would say to that a woman, or if a church wholly gave themselves over to God. What is revival? Revival is simply getting right with God. Revival is simply turning to God like the Bible says in Hebrews “Laying aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us”. And giving myself wholly and completely to God. Go back to Psalm 85. We talked about the request for revival. Revival is something that must be asked for. Habakkuk prayed revive thy work.
By the way, I will just tell you my prayer as the Pastor of Verity Baptist Church is that God would revive his work. “You think we’re dead? Do you think we need it?”. I don’t think we’re dead at all but I know this we have not apprehended. We can do more. We can accomplish more. We can be more right with God. He says revive thy work. The Psalmist says wilt thou not revive us again. Then we see the requirement for revival. What is the requirement for revival? It is the turning to God and the turning away from the folly of sin. And here’s all I’m telling you, if you’re unwilling to do that, it doesn’t mean that you’re not saved, it doesn’t mean that you’re not on your way to heaven but it means that you’re not a candidate for revival.
I’d like you to notice thirdly the results of revival. And this is what it really comes down to. Because you say “OK Pastor. I see what revival is. It’s not something mystical and it’s not something scheduled. It’s just getting right with God. And I see that it is something that we must request. It’s something we must desire. But why? What’s the point? What’s the result? Why would I even want revival. I want you to notice in Psalms he gives 3 characteristics of what revival brings and the result of revival. The first one is this that revival will be evident because we will be right with God.
Psalm 85:4 “4 Turn us, O God of our salvation,” Notice “and cause thine anger toward us to cease.” Before when we are sitting back, when we are not right with God, the anger and judgment and chastisement of God was upon us but once we are turned, we can ask the Lord to cause that anger to cease. Look at verse 7, same chapter “7 Shew us thy mercy, O LORD, and grant us thy salvation.”. Notice verse 8 “8 I will hear what God the LORD will speak:” Notice “for he will speak peace unto his people,” Isn’t that what you want and I want. That God would speak peace to us? Notice verse 9 “9 Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land.”.
See revival, revival is this, it is a evident by getting right with God. And here’s the thing, only you can answer that question. Obviously, we don’t believe in sinless perfection. We don’t believe that you’re ever going to get to the place where you have apprehended. But only you can answer the question, “Am I right with God?”. And when you ask that question and the Holy Spirit immediately brings something to your mind of some sin that you’re in to or something that you are in to or some attitude that you’re dealing with then you must deal with that sin in your life. Or you’ll never experience revival.
Not only will revival be evident because people will be right with God. Revival will be evident because people will rejoice in God. Notice verse 6 “6 Wilt thou not revive us again:” Notice these words “that thy people may rejoice in thee?”. He says wilt thou not revive us again? And then immediately in the same verse, the same context, that thy people may rejoice in thee. See it’s not enough to get right with God.
I grew up as an Independent Fundamental Baptist. As a result of being in the United States Air Force, my wife and I traveled a lot. As a result, we were a part of many Independent Fundamental Baptist Churches. And what I learned about Fundamentalism, sometimes we get this idea that the pinnacle of Christianity is how strict our lives are. And if we’ve got some checklist and my checklist is stricter than your checklist then God must love me more. And look, I’m not minimizing because I’m all for standards and separation.
In fact, in this revival series we’ll talk about standards and separation and separation from the world and unto God. We understand this and I’m not minimizing it. We preach and believe that. But please understand this, when you think Christianity is keeping a checklist, well I’m more right with God because my hair is shorter than your hair or my hair is longer than your hair or my skirt is longer or whatever, when you think that Christianity is how well I partake and how well I keep a guide of rules, let me tell you something, you will not last in Christianity and you will live a very bitter Christian life. You will live a very burdened Christian life. When your Christianity is that you’re better because….that attitude comes from this, “I really wish I could be listening to what they’re listening to. I actually wish that I could be watching what they’re watching to. I actually wish I could be drinking or smoking or looking or whatever that they’re doing but I’m better than they are”.
Look, the motivation for walking with God should be a love for God. It should be motivated by a love for the Lord. You say how will I know if I’m revived? You will know because you’re right with God. You say well how do I know if I’m right with God? Well you’ll also know when you are rejoicing. You see revival is when you are right with God and you are happy. Revival happens when you’re right with the Lord and you rejoice in the Lord. You’re not bitter. You’re not angry. You’re not bickering. You’re not, “Well look at them and look at that person. And let me tell you what I saw over here. I ran into her in the store and let me tell you something”. The Christian life is revived when you experience righteousness. And when you experience rejoicing.
Notice verse 10, I think Psalm 85:10 is one of the most beautiful verses in the entire Bible. I love the way that the Holy Spirit crafted these words. He is teaching us what revival looks like and notice what he says in verse 10. “10 Mercy and truth are met together;” He says mercy and truth are met together. See today when you look at quote on quote Christianity, you’ll see a lot of mercy or truth. You can find in all sorts of churches; they’re going to show you all kinds of mercy. I mean find whatever church you want. It’s mercy, mercy, mercy, grace, grace, mercy, mercy. I mean they are going to mercy you so much and they will mercy truth right out of their church. I mean they will be so accepting and so loving and you say “Is there anything wrong with being accepting and loving?”.
There’s nothing wrong with being accepting and loving as long as it’s not at the expense of truth. I mean you’re a drug addict, no problem. You’re an adulterer, come right in. You’re living in fornication, sure. You’re a drunkard, hey we accept you. Look, I’m all for mercy and we need mercy. But not at the expense of truth. We need mercy. Then on the flip side, you’ve got most fundamentalists, right. Truth, truth, truth no mercy. Well let me see how long your skirt is and how many hours you homeschool. Let me see how strict you are and how great I am. At the expense of mercy. And here’s what happens, when a church actually experiences revival, when an individual actually experiences revival, you find a meeting together of mercy and truth. Because mercy and truth are met together. We don’t get rid of truth. We don’t get rid of mercy. The Apostle Paul said, I speak the truth in love. Mercy and truth are met together.
Look at these words, I love how it’s worded. “Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.”. See, a revived Christian will live a righteous life at peace with others. Not a righteous life that they hold over others. Not a righteous life that they use in the face of others. Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. And by the way, this is why the Bible says in 2 Peter 3:18, “18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”. Say well I’m good in knowledge. Well you better make sure you grow in grace. You say well I’m good in grace. Well you better make sure you have knowledge.
I love how the Bible says about Jesus that in him was both grace and truth. Jesus was the most accepting and the strictest. Jesus would look at the woman caught in adultery and say “I don’t condemn you. And he would look at her and say but go and sin no more”. Mercy and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Revival is evident when you are right with the Lord and when you are rejoicing in the Lord. Imagine what would happen in a church like that. Imagine what would happen in a church filled with people who were doing everything they could to be right with God and everything they could to love others. And to realize that other people are at other stages with other growth and they’re dealing with other things. And I don’t need to look down on them. I don’t need to talk crap about them. I don’t need to try to put them down to make myself feel better. No, I can be right with God and happy about it.
I want you to notice a 3rd characteristic. Notice verse 11, “11 Truth shall spring out of the earth;” See revival will be evident when we are right with God. Revival will be evident when we rejoice in God. And revival will be evident when we reach others for God. See look, when people get revived, they live in truth and they meet mercy but then here is what happens with truth, verse 11 “Truth shall spring out of the earth;”. Truth gets explained. Truth gets promoted. Truth springs out. Notice “11 Truth shall spring out of the earth;” Don’t miss this. I love the wording in these verses. “and righteousness shall look down from heaven.”.
See revival is a meeting of heaven and earth. Revival when in your life, heaven and earth will meet. When we are able to spring truth out of the earth, God looks down with his favor upon us. Revival will be evidenced when we reach others with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Go to Habakkuk 3. Habakkuk 3:2 “2 O LORD, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years,” Don’t miss this. “in the midst of the years” I want you to notice these 2 words. “make known; in wrath remember mercy.”. See when revival genuinely comes to an individual, a family, a church, a nation, you know what happens? Truth springs out. And God is made known.
And by the way, please understand this, this has always been the goal of Verity Baptist. We have it here on our backdrop. That all the earth may know. That all the earth may know with the gospel of Christ we must go. That all the earth may know. See the concept of revival. And again, I kind of want to lay the foundation for the next several weeks as we study this out in scripture, the concept of revival can be encapsulated in these words, to know God and to make God known. Revival happens when you get to the place where you know God in a way that you have not known him before. When you know God in a mature way. When you like Abraham can say that he was a friend of God. Where you can say like Moses, not physically, not literally, but I have a relationship with God. I’ve spoken with God face to face.
Revival is happening in your life and my life and this church when we know God and when we make God known. When truth springs out of the earth. And when we study revival the next several weeks, I’ll show you. We’ll look at characteristics and various things. We’ll look at the revival that Hezekiah led, we’ll look at the revival that Josiah led, we’ll look at the revival that Asa led, we’ll look at the revival that Jonah led, a backslidden preacher, led a revival. And I’m not encouraging that, I’m just saying it’s interesting.
We’ll look at these revivals and characteristics and various things but do you know what the underlying qualities of all of them are? It’s this. God’s people got to know God and they made God known. And here’s all I’m telling you; I believe that our churches have already been doing that and we just need more of that.
You know I was blessed yesterday, we went out soulwinning, we went out to a park, my wife and I and we were with another couple, we pulled up to a park and we saw these 3 guys, you know big guys, kind of angry looking guys sitting over there and I told my wife that these guys were up to no God. And they were like all of the sudden like what is going on and who is here and whatever. We get out and go talk to them and one of them comes our way and we start talking to them. As soon as he sees us pull out the Psychopath Reprobates DVD, he says oh somebody already gave that to me. He says I was out hanging out over here and these 2 ladies walked up to me and they were showing me verses. And he had not gotten saved the first time around and he was willing to listen again and he got saved the 2nd time around. And I was just thinking, God really wanted you to get saved. I mean he is having us follow you around from park to park to make sure that you get saved. But I rejoiced in that because our church is really making God known in this community. Our church is known for reaching people with the gospel and going to people and giving them the plan of salvation.
But the point is this as we’re talking about revival the next several weeks, but what do I need to take away? We want you to know God in a way that you’ve never known him before. And really, that’s what we’re going to spend the next several weeks studying. How to do that. How to have revival through the house of God. How to have revival through prayer and separation. We’re going to study all that. But the goal is to know God and make God known in a way that has never happened at Verity Baptist Church. Because revival is not a supernatural, you know people are going to start falling in front of me at work. My boss will walk up and give me a raise. That’s not revival. Revival is this, your spirit is revived. And maybe your Christianity has gotten a little stale. Your walk with God has grown a little cold. Revival is simply breathing new life into that. It’s simply getting right with God and learning to walk with God.
Go to Psalm 85. It reminds me of Enoch. Remember Enoch? The Bible says that Enoch walked with God and was not because God took him. God translated him. God raptured him. You know Enoch, and of course this was physical, literal but there is a lesson there for us to learn. Enoch just everyday walked with the Lord, walked with the Lord, walked with the Lord. Drew closer to God, drew closer to God, drew closer to God. Eventually he was one day walking with God and he was drawing so close that God decided why don’t you just come on up. And I’m not saying that’s going to happen to you or to me but I’m saying that revival is getting right with God. Rejoicing in the Lord about it. And reaching others with the gospel.
And here’s what’s interesting. Over the last 2 months, there has been a lot said because of these lockdowns. The coronavirus, governments, politicians. There has been a lot said about America, about our government. And you know, as a Pastor I will tell you if you don’t know this already, one of the things that I try to do to try to guide myself and the church, we should put the emphasis where God places the emphasis. We would emphasize what God emphasizes. And the rest just kind of leave it to the rest. And I’m not saying that these are bad people that are doing this, but I’ve noticed in Christianity, a big emphasis has been placed on political reform. “Our rights are being taken away and the first amendment this and that and we got to go to the protest and rally and right up Congressman”.
And I’m not against all that and from time to time there is a place for that and I’ve done stuff like that. And I’m not saying there is anything wrong with that. But sometimes we have this idea, and they might not say it out loud but subconsciously it’s like, the only way this is going to work out is if we can get a hold of our nation through the laws and through the politics and to our rights. And if we can get a lawyer to sue the government and do this and do that and I’m not against that. But I want you to notice that God places the emphasis in a different place. Psalm 85:9 “9 Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him;” It’s talking about people that have been revived. And then he says this. “that glory may dwell in our land.”. We like to talk about old glory. He says that glory may dwell in our land. Look at verse 12, same chapter, “12 Yea, the LORD shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield her increase.”.
Do you know the Bible says that righteousness exalts a nation? And here’s all I’m telling you, here’s all I’m saying. You and me and this church getting thoroughly right with God, knowing God, and making God known. Experiencing revival in our lives will do more to save this country than a lawyer, than a law, than a law maker ever thought of. I mean we must put the emphasis on where God puts the emphasis. We must emphasize what God emphasizes. And the hope for America or any other nation for that matter is not in its politicians, it is in God. As Christians that experience true revival. As Christians, know God, turn to God, and turn away from folly.
I mean God said in 2 Chronicles 7:14 “14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”. And here’s all I’m telling you. You say that I love America. Good. Me too. Let’s save America. Ok, what protest are we going to? No, how about we get right with God. How about we know God and make God known. That his glory may dwell in our land.
Let’s pray.